The National Homeland Defense Foundation (NHDF) today announced the ten finalists for the Sixth Annual National Security Innovation Competition to be held at the University of Colorado in Colorado Springs this April 27th. Nearly 40 different projects competed, seeking the approval of 27 judges from across the US, representing scientists and technologists from industry and government agencies. The University of Calgary project is the only non-American entrant chosen as a Top Ten finalist.“The competition was designed as a STEM (Science Technology Engineering and Math)-based, one-of-a-kind venue to link college students conducting cutting edge research on concepts and technologies intended to meet national security capability needs, with government and industry customers,” said Don Addy, President of NHDF.

The universities and corresponding projects competing in the final round include:

Preliminary judges evaluated the uniqueness of the projects and their relevancy to meet a security, defense or first responder need, the student ability to describe their understanding of major market factors and alternatives, how student teams described the evolution needed to mature their project across technology readiness levels and possible commercialization, and the overall clarity and quality of their written project summaries.

Finalists will make an oral presentation to a panel of national-level judges from government and industry on April 27th. Finalist Judges for the 2012 event are from the Department of Homeland Security, Science and Technology Directorate, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), the Department of Defense Combating Terrorism Technical Support Office, Boeing Phantom Works, Popular Science Magazine, Paladin Capital Group, and Dorsey & Whitney, LLP.

The top three prizes to be awarded are $10,000 for first place, $5,000 for second place, and $2,500 for third place.

Mr. Daryl Pelc, Vice President, Engineering and Technology, Boeing Phantom Works, will be the keynote speaker at the luncheon.

“Our sponsors have seen the incredible opportunity and value of this competition,” said retired Major General Mark Volcheff, Executive Director for the Competition. “The brightest student minds from across U.S. and Canadian universities will be presenting their research.” “Our industry and government audience not only get an early opportunity to take these innovations the next step, but they’ll meet the scientists and engineers that will fill their future workforce,” Volcheff said.

“All of the student entrants are doing cutting-edge research,” Volcheff said. “While we only compete10 in the final round, we want to make sure all of the projects receive the broadest exposure and we’ll do that through published Proceedings distributed after the competition.”

Government, industry and academia focused on STEM, facilitating innovation, and expediting homeland security, defense and first responder technologies into the hands of the users can register to attend this event.